Forecast gale southerly winds and an engine job to be done alongside, saw us coming into Picton Marina. It is so busy, with boats pouring out towards us as we headed down Queen Charlotte Sound. Waikawa Marine had no spaces, but we luckily found a space in Picton. We were heading in in a stream of boats and committed to heading into our allocated berth. A big launch was behind us, and we let him past, only to watch him motor into our berth in front of us! A very nifty bit of helming by Simonsaw us turn round and head back out as we were being advised of an alternative. Attempt two and a perfect coming alongside saw us tied up. Engineers are all really busy and we may have to wait until next week to get some help. It’s not a serious problem, but we want to get it sorted before we head away. We’ll spend a few days in the Sounds and then have a berth in Waikawa for a couple of nights early next week. Some friends kindly invited us for a BBQ, so we walked 40 mins over to Waikawa and had a lovely evening with Rose and Gerard and a few of their friends. We were glad of a lift back as it was 11.30.
The hot weather left overnight as a Southerly hit. Grey, cold and drizzly day today with jobs, shopping for things we’d forgotten to bring and a few visitors. Also caught up with Dick and Pat on ‘Irene’, a beautiful old boat that Dick built in the 1950s.
Fish and chips for dinner, but tucked down below due to the weather. Must be at least 15 degrees colder than yesterday!!